Sunday, October 18, 2009

NLCS Preview, Games 3 & 4: Dodgers at Phillies

Tied 1-1, the Los Angeles Dodgers come to Philadelphia to take on the Phillies in the 2009 National League Championship Series. Following an implosion by the Phillies' bullpen, in the 8th inning of game 2, that gave Los Angeles a win, ace pitcher Cliff Lee will get the start for the Phils, which could mean a night off for the team's relief corps, if Lee continues with his postseason dominance. Read on for details on the pitching match ups and other key notes for these games.

Sunday, 8:07pm. Hiroki Kuroda (8-7, 3.76 ERA) vs. Cliff Lee (14-13, 3.22 ERA). Kuroda is 1-0 with a 0.95 ERA and a .100 batting avg. against in 3 games against the Phillies. Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino and Jimmy Rollins are a combined 0-for-19 off of Kuroda. Opponents are batting just .186 against Lee in two games this post season. Lee is 4-2 with a 2.21 ERA in 6 starts at Citizen Bank Park as a Phillie this year.

Monday, 8:07pm. Randy Wolf (11-7, 3.23 ERA) vs. Joe Blanton (12-8, 4.05 ERA). In 27 career starts at Citizens Bank Park, Wolf is 9-7 with a 4.30 ERA. Wolf was 7-4 with a 2.78 ERA in 16 road starts this season. Carlos Ruiz is 4-for-6 with a homer, 3 RBI and 2 walks against Wolf in his career. Blanton also started game 4 of the NLCS last year against the Dodgers...in that game he allowed 3 runs in 5 innings. Blanton was 7-4 with a 3.77 ERA in 16 home starts this season. Blanton has a 7.04 ERA in his last 4 outings, including 2 in relief this postseason.

Manny Ramirez is 1-for-9 in 2 games so far in this series. Ramirez is batting .227 overall in 5 games this postseason. Ramirez is 20-for-39 combined in his career against Lee & Blanton (.513 avg) with 3 homers and 14 RBI.

The Phillies are struggling to get going early in games this post season. In 6 games, they've only scored 2 total runs in innings 1-3, none of which have come in innings 2 or 3. That's only 2 runs in 18 innings.

Jimmy Rollins is batting just .214 (6-for-28) with a .464 OPS and no steals this postseason.

Ryan Howard is batting .409 for the Phillies this post season, with at least 1 RBI in each of the 6 games.